Aeroshuttle
An aeroshuttle is a runabout-like spacecraft embedded in the saucer underside of starships. In 2376, Dala and Zar, posing as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay, showed Varn a schematic of the which identified its aeroshuttle. ( ) A graphic of an aeroshuttle also appeared in Daniels' Temporal Observatory while it was being viewed by Captain Archer and T'Pol in 2152. ( ) Background History and Specifications The official name of this spacecraft was changed from AeroWing because of an existing Mighty Ducks trademark http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.startrek.tech/msg/0f826d512299863e?hl=en. According to the VOY writers' guidebook, Star Trek: Voyager Technical Manual, when detached, its aeroshuttle was capable of atmospheric flight as well as interstellar travel at speeds up to warp 3. The cockpit was designed for a crew of four. Despite this description, the writers never used Voyager s aeroshuttle, prompting Rick Sternbach to develop the following explanation for his Star Trek: The Magazine article Intrepid-Class Lineage: The Aeroshuttle was the only upgraded component to the Intrepid-class that remained in the development cycle long after the other major systems had been frozen and released for fabrication and assembly. Based on the existing Starfleet runabout platform, the Aeroshuttle was given a 450 percent increase in atmospheric flight and hover endurance over standard shuttlecraft. This was accomplished through the use of hybrid microfusion and EM driven airflow coil engines. Although the Aeroshuttle spaceframe and basic systems were completed by Stardate 46875.3, final outfitting of mission-specific hardware was delayed until simulations and flight testing with the could be completed. Sternbach revisited the aeroshuttle in far more detail in a Starfleet Technical Database-article which appeared in Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 12: * Mission requirements: Independent warp flight operations, Defense of home vessel, extended planetary landing and reconnaissance tasks and crew evacuation * Design based on the runabout hull, without the modular approach * Construction started in 2369 with an initial procurement order of 2 prototypes and 15 production vehicles of which 7 were slated to be integrated into the starships, while the remaining 8 others would be assigned to other starships (as shuttles), miscellaneous Starfleet installations or as independent flyers. * Unlike the , Aeroshuttles were not to be designated unique vessel class status and thus did not receive registry numbers * Status report on the units whose missions are not classified as per stardate 56734.21: CGI model 's CGI model]] According to Rob Bonchune, who eventually created a full rendering of Voyager's aeroshuttle: In a nutshell, back at Foundation, we got into our heads that it would be cool to see the "captain's yacht" of the Voyager, that being the AeroShuttle. Rick Sternbach gratuitously did a prelim design and I used part of that and designed the ship you see here. Mojo and I did a whole launch sequence, on spec, meaning "free" and then had it shown to Rick Berman. The response: Mr Berman thought it was nice, but didn't want to trump the captain's yacht launch sequence from the upcoming film . As you remember that was a VERY dramatic, epic and cool launch sequence. http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=1375551&postcount=7 With regards to the design, Bonchune stated, "Well, I remember Rick Sternbach saying that the four protruding rectangles represent landing pads. Seems silly as in scale they are way oversized. But, for the big ''Voyager miniature, I guess it was added detail."http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=1378055&postcount=22 As for what happened to the initial project, Bonchune said that "''if we had aired the ship, I was going to refine the wings to be a little less "blunt trauma" to the aerodynamics. But when we got nixed, we moved on... so, it stands as is." http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showpost.php?p=1376061&postcount=15 Rob Bonchune's website features a video of an aeroshuttle launch, likely from the original proposal. http://www.robertbonchune.com/Video/VID_VGR_01.htm The CGI model was first presented to the general public in , in the Star Trek: Starship Spotter. Orthographic views of the model were published in , in the Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 3, Issue 12, pages 83-85. Bonchune's render of Voyager s aeroshuttle was featured in the Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar for the month of April, titled Deployed. de:Intrepid-Klasse#Aero-Wing Category:Federation shuttle classes